The third round of the 2026 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches begins Saturday, February 28 at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, a little earlier than normal thanks to expected inclement weather in South Florida on Saturday afternoon. Full Cognizant Classic start times for Saturday’s third round can be found at the bottom of this post.
Recommended start time for round 3
Thirty-one-year-old Austin Smotherman has just one career top 5 on his PGA Tour resume – the 2023 Mexico Open at Vidanta – but thanks to an excellent start in Florida, the Southern Methodist alumnus may be able to add to that total this weekend with something even better: a win.
Smotherman opened Thursday with a blistering round of nine-under 62 and followed that performance with a two-under 69 to reach 11 under overall. He now leads the field by three shots heading into the weekend.
Smotherman’s closest competition is Taylor Moore (-8), followed by AJ Ewart and Nico Echavarria (both -7) and Joel Dahmen (-6).
Smotherman will play alongside Moore and Ewart in Saturday’s final bracket at 9:40 a.m. ET.
You can watch the third round of the 2026 Cognizant Classic on Saturday in the Palm Beaches from 10:00 PM to 3:00 PM ET on Golf Channel. PGA Tour live on ESPN+ will provide exclusive early streaming coverage starting at 7:45 a.m. ET on Saturday, in addition to featured group and featured hole coverage.
See full Round 3 start times and groupings for the Cognizant Classic below.
Hoping to bet on the Cognizant Classic? Sign up for Fanatics Sportsbook with code “SUBPAR” and receive a special welcome offer.
Buy ESPN+
With an ESPN+ subscription you get access to PGA Tour Live, where you can stream the best PGA Tour events live wherever you want.
2026 Cognizant Classic start times for Saturday: Round 3 (ET)
T-piece No. 1
7:28 – Zecheng Dou, Matthieu Pavon, Max McGreevy
7:40 – Mackenzie Hughes, Chan Kim, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
7:52 – Ryan Gerard, Brooks Koepka, Ben Silverman
8:04 – Steven Fisk, Ricky Castillo, Eric Cole
8:16 am – Max Homa, Thorbjorn Olesen, Kevin Streelman
8:28 am – Matti Schmid, Takumi Kanaya, Kevin Roy
8:40 – Seamus Power, Chad Ramey, Carson Young
8:52 am – William Mouw, Michael Brennan, Daniel Berger
9:04 – Aaron Rai, Shane Lowry, Jimmy Stanger
9:16 am – Kristoffer Reitan, Pontus Nyholm, Hank Lebioda
9:28 am – Nico Echavarria, Joel Dahmen, Mark Hubbard
9:40 – Austin Smotherman, Taylor Moore, AJ Ewart
T-piece no. 10
7:28 – Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Alex Smalley, Danny Walker
7:40 am – Rasmus Hojgaard, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Dan Brown
7:52 – John Parry, Austin Eckroat, Beau Hossler
8:04 – Lee Hodges, Matt Wallace, Keith Mitchell
8:16 – Davis Thompson, Jackson Suber, Adrien Sadier
8:28am – Patrick Fishburn, Zach Bauchou, Dylan Wu
8:40 – Emiliano Grillo, Adam Schenk, Chandler Phillips
8:52am – Tom Kim, Patton Kizzire, Haotong Li
9:04 – David Ford, Billy Horschel, Garrick Higgo
9:16am – Joe Highsmith, Nicolai Hojgaard
9:28 am – Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Jordan Smith
#Cognizant #Classic #Saturday #Start #Times #Groupings